Astros take first of four against Chicago
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 3-0 win
May 20, 2019, 9:51 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Back at home for ten games, the Astros looked to start the long homestand with a win over the White Sox to start their four-game series. Here's a recap of Monday night's game:
Final Score: Astros 3, White Sox 0
Record: 32-16, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Brad Peacock (5-2, 3.59 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Ryan Burr (1-1, 3.86 ERA).
1) Peacock with five strong innings in win
Brad Peacock threw his third consecutive start with one run or less, holding the White Sox scoreless over five innings of work. He looked on track to go longer, but a long fifth inning ended his night early. Peacock's final line: 5 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 2 walks, and an impressive 9 strikeouts.
2) Bullpen tasked with four more innings
Despite Peacock having a strong outing, it was still only five innings, resulting in the bullpen being asked to cover four innings to close out the win. Chris Devenski pitched a scoreless sixth by working around a two-out single, then Will Harris worked around two two-out singles for a scoreless seventh.
Ryan Pressly took over in the eighth, and to no surprise provided yet another scoreless inning. In the ninth, Roberto Osuna converted his twelfth save of the season to complete the shutout.
3) Three runs is enough
With the White Sox held scoreless by Houston, the Astros didn't need much offense to get the job done on Monday night. Carlos Correa hit what would be the eventual winning run on a sac fly in the bottom of the first, putting Houston up 1-0. They added two insurance runs, both on solo homers, one by Jake Marisnick in the third and the other by Tyler White in the fourth, his first of the year.
Up Next: The Astros and White Sox will get game two of this series underway tomorrow night at 7:10 PM. Houston will have their ace, Justin Verlander (7-1, 2.38 ERA), on the mound to pitch opposite of Dylan Covey (0-2, 4.41 ERA) for Chicago.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Michael Wacha scattered four hits over six innings, Vinnie Pasquantino homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros 2-0 for the second straight night Saturday to run their winning streak to six.
Wacha (1-3) once again received little run support, but the veteran right-hander made the meager production stand up on chilly evening at Kauffman Stadium. He struck out six while walking two and never allowed a runner past second base.
Steven Cruz worked the seventh for Kansas City, his seventh appearance this season without allowing a run. John Schreiber left runners on the corners in the eighth, and Carlos Estévez had a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and scored in the first inning for the Royals, extending his career-best hitting streak to 18 games.
Framber Valdez (1-3) gave up a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha in the first inning and Pasquantino's shot down the right-field line in the fifth. Otherwise, the Astros left-hander kept Kansas City in check, allowing three hits and two walks over eight innings.
Valdez had tossed seven shutout innings against the Royals last August in a 3-2 victory.
The Astros, who have lost five straight at the K, have managed just nine hits while getting shut out over the first two games of the series. They had rolled into Kansas City having won three straight and five of their last six games.
Key moment
Isaac Parades hit a two-out double and Jeremy Peña followed with a single to give Houston runners on the corners in the eighth inning. Schreiber bounced back to strike out Christian Walker with a four-seam fastball to end the threat.
Key stat
The Royals have only scored seven runs in the 32 innings that Wacha has pitched this season.
Up next
RHP Hunter Brown (3-1, 1.16) tries to extend a 24-inning scoreless streak for Houston in the series finale Sunday. LHP Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.45) gets the start for Kansas City after tossing seven shutout innings against the Rockies his last time out.